Iten claims medalist honors, leads Govs to F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate victory

APSU Sports Information: APSU Golf

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University started the final round with a one-shot lead and ended up winning the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate by nine strokes, Tuesday, at the Links at Novadell.

Sophomore Marco Iten (pronounced: E-ten) nailed a 40-foot putt on the second playoff hole to take home individual honors – shooting an eight-under par 208. It was his first collegiate tournament win and he became the seventh APSU player all-time to garner medalist honors at the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate.

“That was a great win for Marco and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Govs head coach Kirk Kayden said. “The guys all played really well this week and we won this thing based on overall team performance. Just to look at scores we threw out, it’s pretty impressive. We only had one round over par for the tournament.”

Austin Peay placed their top four finishers inside the top 10 of the 93-player field. Sophomore Anthony Bradley shot 69-70-71 to finish at seven-under par and third place, while sophomore Trey Tarpley fired rounds of 70-71-70 for sixth place at five-under par.  Freshman Tucker Wallace was a shot back of Tarpley, putting together a final-round 69 to finish 10th.

Unlike the second round, Iten got off to a strong start making four birdies on the front nine. However, he turned around to bogey Nos. 8 and 10, but made a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to put him back in contention. That putt gave him momentum for the playoff with Samford’s Drew Aimone. On No. 11, Iten made the biggest putt of the day, a 40-footer that sealed the win.

OVC member Jacksonville State finished second with an 848, followed by Samford (850), Binghamton (859) and OVC school Eastern Kentucky (860) making up the top five.

It was the first time since 2003 an Austin Peay team won consecutive tournaments and also makes this the program’s first multi-win season since 2008-09. In 2003, the Govs won their final spring tournament and backed it up by winning the Ohio Valley Conference championships. This time the Govs head into a dead period, with their next event not coming until the spring season opener, the March 5th-6th Samford Invitational.

“We’ve got some momentum now,” Kayden said. “We’re going to spend the break trying to get stronger and preparing for the spring. In the past, it’s seemed like two different seasons. That’s what we’re going to try and avoid this time.”